Hard To Deal
by Ghostwriter
Summary: Scott deals with emotions about his stepmother's abuse.


HARD TO DEAL

AUTHOR'S NTOE

Takes place after "The Kids Stay in the Picture". Somewhat inspired by Keke1 who suggested a fic about Scott's emotions on coming to Horizon and his abuse. All _Higher Ground_ characters belong to Fox Family. PG for the discussion of his abuse.

INTRODUCTION

Scott deals with his feelings after the CPS mess.

"I HATE HER!" sixteen-year old Scott Barringer screamed. "I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE HER!" He began to kick the side of the barn. Meanwhile, Peter Scarbrow, the director of Mt. Horizon, was looking for the boy. Hearing a banging noise, Peter went to investigate. Once inside, he found Scott kicking the wall.

"Scott!" Peter shouted over the noise. At first, Scot didn't hear him.

"I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE HER!" he shrieked.

"SCOTT!" Peter shouted. Finally, the boy stopped his tirade and looked at the man.

"I hate her, Peter. I hate her," he said tearfully.

"Scott, I know this is difficult for you---" Peter began to say.

"She won, okay?" Scott interrupted. "Just like she said she would. I never should've even done it." With that, he walked away. Peter stared for a moment, then let out a small sigh. Across the campus, Scott's girlfriend, sixteen-year old Shelby Merrick was chopping wood. Hearing footsteps, she looked up.

"Hey," she said softly.

"She won. The skank won," he stated.

"I...I don't understand," Shelby said.

"They dropped the case. The letters convinced them that I was in love with her," Scott told her.

"Oh, Scott," Shelby said sympathetically.

"This is all my fault," Scott moped.

"Scott, no," Shelby protested.

"If I hadn't told, everything would still be okay," Scott insisted.

"If you hadn't told, she'd still have power over you," Shelby pointed out.

"I should've just kept my mouth shut," Scott stated.

"Scott, you know that's not true," Shelby said.

"Just forget it," Scott snapped and ran off. Meanwhile, sixteen-year old Juliette was sitting against a tree, while her boyfriend sixteen-year old Augusto "Auggie" Ciceros drew a picture of her.

"Hey, Scott," Juliette greeted suddenly.

"Hey," Scott said moodily.

"What's wrong with **you**?" Juliette wondered.

"Nothing," Scott answered.

"You okay, Meat?" Auggie queried.

"Leave it," Scott responded, walking off. Juliette and Auggie stared at each other, then went back to what they were doing. Later that day, the Cliffhangers sat in a circle for group along with Peter and their group counselor, Sophie Becker. Everyone but Scott had spoken up and they were waiting for him to say something. Shelby threw him a look.

"What?" Scott snapped.

"You gotta talk about it," Shelby told him.

"Coming from you, that's just great," Scott said sarcastically.

"Come on, Scott. What's going on?" Juliette prompted.

"Yeah, man. You totally dissed us," Auggie added.

"I don't want to talk," Scott responded, sounding very much like a pouting five year-old.

"Come on, Jocko. You can't hold on to your baggage," sixteen-year old Daisy Lipenowski pointed out.

"Hey! Butt out, Morticia! You couldn't possibly understand what I'm going through!" Scott shouted.

"Why don't you give us a chance?" eighteen-year old Katherine "Kat" Cabot requested.

"Yeah, we're all friends here," sixteen-year old Ezra Friedkin agreed.

"What do **you** know, Freakin'?" Scott snapped.

"Scott, there's no need for name calling," Sophie told him.

"Why don't you just tell us what's going on?" Juliette asked him.

"I had an interview with CPS," Scott told them.

"For what?" Kat asked.

"I told them that my stepmother was abusing me," Scott replied.

"Abusing you, like how?" Juliette questioned.

"Like getting into bed with me," Scott answered.

"Ew! Gross!" Juliette exclaimed.

"So they caught her. That doesn't give you any right to---" Auggie began to say.

"That's just the point, Muchacho!" Scott interrupted angrily. "They didn't catch her!" he continued, jumping up.

"What are you talking about?" Juliette asked.

"She had letters I sent her! And she used them!" Scott shouted.

"Why would you send her letters if she was molesting you?" Kat asked in confusion.

"Because for a while, I honestly thought I was in love with her!" Scott cried. "I mean, my parents were divorced, I was in a new town, my dad was always travelling, and all I had was her! I figured if I loved her, it'd make it okay!" His tirade ended with a sob. For a moment, everyone stared.

"When did you know that you weren't in love with her, Scott?" Sophie asked. Scott could only cry.

"Scott?" Sophie asked gently.

"The first time I said 'no' and---" Scott broke off.

"And?" Peter prompted.

"She didn't stop," Scott finished. He dropped to his knees. "She didn't stop. She wouldn't stop. I told her to stop." Sophie knelt down and wrapped him into a hug.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's okay. It's okay," she whispered.

THE END


End file.
